Cra-Shawnas and Ice Skating Collisions

Four days after Christmas, we ventured to the city for some winter fun and our annual ice skating workout. 

Our kids are growing, and this ice session wasn't nearly as painful as previous ones. Instead of hunching over a dead-weight toddler and propelling them around the ice, and getting an excruciating upper-body workout at the same time, I got to skate at Clara's side, the two of us extremely shaky, but gliding in a respectable way -- for Californians. Meanwhile, Joey lapped the two of us repeatedly, speed-stomping around the ice with his shoulders hunched forward, with all the aggression of a hockey player, but none of the finesse. Molly watched from the sidelines on Tim's lap, mostly content, and munched on her favorite treat -- a "cra-shawna" (crossiant). 

Wow, I thought, we've come a long way! We should come back and do this tomorrow!

And then, at the tail end of our session, we discovered that actually, ice skating with two adults and three kids leaves you open to the very real possibility of one kid crashing on the ice spectacularly -- with no parent in sight to witness it.  Apparently, Joey's stomping/ galloping technique led to a face-first landing on the ice. Strangers had to help him up, lead him to the side of the rink, and help him look for his negligent parents so that they could tend to his bloody cheek.

And so ended our ice skating adventures of 2012!